Saturday, November 9, 2013

When more than 70 enthusiastic Montessori souls come together there’s bound to be a great energy. Last weekend was no exception as Carol Potts (Maria Montessori Education Foundation) and Amy Kirkham (Australian Centre for Montessori Studies) led a 2 day workshop on: Observation Recognising and Supporting Spontaneous Activity at Howick Primary School in Auckland.

Sumptuous a.m. & p.m. teas and lunches fueled us sufficiently to listen, watch and discuss ways to support children’s spontaneous activity. The message that one of the attendees came away with was,

“We must first build up stamina and prepare ourselves for the art of observing. At first begin with a few minutes each hour and gradually increase until we hone our skills sufficiently to prepare work curves for all of the children in our environment”.

We hope that everyone left the workshop with a toolkit of essentials with which to start their observations.

MMEF are offering the 4th Assistant Certificate Course in April next year!

This Course is aimed at those in an assisting or supporting role in a Montessori environment. It includes the philosophy needed to work effectively in this position and a whole host of practical skills useful in the environment.

The Course is also of help and interest to: ECE teachers working in a Montessori school, Montessori school owners, administrators and to parents and childcare professionals from other fields. It is also the perfect introduction to those considering studying for the 3-6 Diploma in the future.

For your ease we are also delighted to announce that on-line registrations for the 9 day course are now available! Go to mmef.org.nz and click on the link to register on-line.

Maria Montessori Education Foundation

The Maria Montessori Education Foundation (MMEF) is a charitable trust in New Zealand established to set up and promote AMI Montessori training in New Zealand. Integral to this also will be to support the participation in the AMI Training of Trainers programme by AMI Diploma holders in New Zealand.